Background and purpose: High insulin levels are a recognized risk factor for atherosclerosis. Microvascular endothelium is more susceptible to metabolic and mitogenic effects of insulin than large-vessel endothelium. Besides their atherogenic effect, high insulin levels impair fibrinolysis by enhancing plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. We undertook this study to evaluate the hypothesis that elevated serum insulin and C-peptide levels are related to cerebral small-vessel disease rather than large-vessel pathology.
Methods: One hundred ninety-four consecutive patients presenting with symptomatic cerebrovascular disease were assigned to three subgroups that were differentiated by clinical presentations, brain imaging studies, and extracranial as well as transcranial vascular ultrasound findings: (1) patients with lacunes (n = 20), (2) patients with subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy (n = 35), and (3) patients with strokes due to large-vessel disease (n = 99). Patients who had suffered a cryptogenic (n = 9) or cardioembolic (n = 16) stroke or who showed characteristics of the microangiopathy and macroangiopathy groups (n = 15) were not further evaluated. Thirty patients without manifestations of cerebrovascular disease were also examined. Fasting blood glucose, insulin, and C-peptide levels were determined in all subjects.
Results: There were no significant differences in age or sex among the three groups and control patients. Insulin levels were significantly higher in the lacunar group compared with the subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy group, the macroangiopathy group, and the control patients (median [interquartile range]: 103.8 [198.6], 72.0 [103.2], 66.0 [57.0], and 52.2 [57.0] pmol/L, respectively; all P < .05, Mann-Whitney test). There was a statistically significant difference in insulin concentrations between the microangiopathy group (subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy and lacunes) and the macroangiopathy and control groups (81.0 [110.4], 66.0 [57.0], and 55.2 [57.0] pmol/L, respectively; all P < .05, Mann-Whitney). The same was true for the distribution of C-peptide levels and to a minor extent blood glucose values, but these differences failed to reach statistical significance.
Conclusions: Elevated insulin levels potentially represent a pathogenetic factor in the development of cerebral small-vessel disease, predominantly in patients presenting with lacunes. Whether this is due solely to atherosclerotic changes of the small penetrating arteries or whether changes in hemorheology are operative as well remains to be evaluated.